Chapter Text
On a Friday afternoon, the city looked like it was awakening. The restaurants about to open, the people going back from work to dress up for the night, the students coming home from afterhours to study some more.
"I'm lucky" Jisung thought while he was getting off the metro. Today was his day off, he wasn't in a hurry and he didn't even have anything to do later. Tonight he could just relax.
If it wasn't for his dumbass roommate forgetting his keys at home, he probably wouldn't even have gone out the whole day, but they were friends after all and for all the times Jisung had locked himself out of the apartment and Hyunjin came to his rescue, he figured he probably owed him.
So there he was, at 7pm trying to get to his friend’s dance studio and go back to lounge on the couch as soon as humanly possible. A regular Friday.
He went to the address Hyunjin sent him and awkwardly entered the building. He was relieved to see no one was at the front desk to greet him and because no one was in sight, he followed the loud music he could hear coming from one of the practice rooms. The door was already open, so he just silently slipped inside, curious, and tried to blend in with the wall as much as possible.
Three boys were dancing intensely and Jisung recognized his roommate as one of them. He was surprised to see how good they were. He knew Hyunjin had been dancing for a few years but he had never seen him perform and the fluidity and musicality in his movements left him impressed. Alongside him, there were a petite grey-haired boy with blue contacts and another one with chestnut hair. Even though the latter had the most natural look out of the three ( Hyunjin truly wasn't subtle with his bright pink floss hair) he definitely stood out. The way his body moved almost demanded attention and he looked like he owned the room. Jisung felt himself shiver just thinking about it, he would never have that much confidence.
The music soon ended and chestnut boy caught his gaze in the mirror, raising a questioning eyebrow, probably wondering why a complete stranger was creepily watching them.
"Enjoying the show?"
He asked, before taking a sip of water from his bottle, nonchalantly.
Jisung flinched, as he didn’t expect him to acknowledge his presence at all. He wanted to bolt out of the room and never look back, realizing how bad of a first impression he just made. Before he could though, Hyunjin was squeezing him in a bone-crushing hug, greeting him happily.
"Aww Jisungie, you didn't get lost!"
Jisung scowled and lightly pushed him away.
"Get off of me, you're all sweaty"
"Shut up, you love my hugs"
Hyunjin said, using the few centimeters he had on his friend to pat him mockingly on his blonde head.
"Sure, I'd love them even more if I didn't have to go all the way across Seoul to get one"
Jin rolled his eyes.
“Don’t be dramatic, it’s just a few stops. Come on lazy, just give me the keys so you can go back home"
The grey-haired boy approached them hopping excitedly, a wide smile on his face. It was honestly beyond Jisung’s comprehension how he had so much energy after the routine he just saw.
"Jinnie, is this your roommate?"
Hyunjin nodded.
"Oh yeah, how rude of me, I didn't even introduce you! Jisung, this is.."
"Felix!"
The boy beamed and stretched his hand.
Jisung shook it hesitantly, he hoped his hand wasn't too clammy, meeting strangers always made him nervous.
"I'm Jisung, nice to meet you"
Hyunjin laughed in his face.
“Oh, please drop the formalities, I can’t take you seriously, I forgot how different you get around people you don't know"
Jisung punched his arm, mildly offended.
"Not everyone can be a social butterfly like you! I didn't even know I was going to meet someone new today"
Felix smiled at him kindly.
"Don't worry, it's on us, we were supposed to finish half an hour ago"
Chestnut boy, who had taken his shoes off and was massaging his toes in the meantime, raised his voice at the other side of the room.
"It's on me actually, I kept them overtime. Minho"
He added at the end, like an afterthought. He got up and scrolled towards them. He didn’t offer his hand.
"Jisung"
He repeated, trying not to tremble under the other’s intense stare.
"I heard"
The atmosphere kind of tensed around them, so Felix laughed and intervened before it got uncomfortable.
“Why are you still wearing those shoes, Min? You should buy a new pair before you actually hurt your feet”
Minho shrugged.
“They’re expensive, I’ll get a good pair when I can afford them”
Felix rolled his eyes at his cold tone.
“I'm hungry, can we go to that ramen place that opened the other day? I think it still has a discount" .
"Sure, but we should shower before, don't forget or you'll get sick"
Minho reminded him using caring words, despite his face that had remained serious throughout the exchange.
Felix laughed.
"It was one time!"
Then he waved and followed Minho, who did not say goodbye, towards the changing rooms. “At least one of them has manners” Jisung thought.
Hyunjin stretched his hand.
He looked at him, confused.
"What? You want to shake my hand too?"
The pink-haired boy laughed.
"The keys, dummy, so you can get back to your lovely sofa"
"Oh right"
Jisung looked in his tote bag and handed them to his roommate when he got a hold on them.
"How long are you going to stay out? If you come back at three in the morning, do not wake me up"
Hyunjin smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm seeing my girlfriend tonight, maybe I won't even come home"
"Oh, so that's why you wanted the keys"
"You know I would invite her over, if you weren’t around all the time"
He complained.
“Fuck you, next time you'll ask me a favor I'll remember this conversation"
Sung crossed his arms, sulking and Hyunjin laughed, knowing his roommate was too kind to actually refuse to help him. He hugged him again and made his way to the changing rooms.
Jisung let out a long breath once he was alone.
"That didn't go terribly" he sighed, relieved. He went back to the front door, ready to go, but as soon as he stepped outside he saw it was raining heavily and stopped in his tracks. Of course he did not think to bring an umbrella with him when he went out. He looked at his vintage leather jacket, definitely not enough to protect him from getting drenched. He leaned back against the wall and lit a cigarette, covered by the roofing. It was cold, but he was so frustrated with his stupidity that he needed to smoke. He still felt nervous after meeting Hyunjin’s dance partners as well.
Only after a few drags, the door opened and Minho, now dressed in high-waisted black jeans and a purple raincoat, stepped out. Sighing he too leaned against the wall, beside him.
They stayed there, both of them silent, staring in the distance.
He felt like he had to say something, because this boy in particular seemed to hate his guts, but his mind was blank.
"Do you have..."
Jisung turned abruptly towards him when he heard him speak.
Minho pointed to the cigarette and quickly Jisung pulled out another one and held it towards the other boy, who caught it with his lips.
Jisung found himself looking straight in his eyes, just like the other was doing and he never let his gaze drop while he lighted the cigarette.
Minho's eyes were dark and mysterious, just like him, and a glint of mischief or amusement crossed them when he exhaled the smoke right in Jisung's face, making him cough.
"I knew you were a smoker"
Minho said, when Jisung's breath came back to normal.
"What gave it away?"
"Your bag literally says 'I smoke because killing people is unacceptable for society's standards'"
The blonde laughed.
"Oh yeah I forgot about that"
He looked at Minho and if he thought he was beautiful before, he was sure now that he saw him up close. In the faint lights of the night, calmly smoking in the rain, his hair softly falling on his forehead. It felt like a scene straight out of a movie.
"You're pretty observant"
Stated Jisung.
"Says the boy who has been staring at me for the last five minutes"
Jisung turned his head, blushing violently and looking away. Minho giggled.
"I thought athletes shouldn't smoke"
The shyer boy replied, trying to change the topic.
"I don't"
Jisung looked at him again, his eyes wide, this guy really was unbelievable. Minho winked at him and giggled again seeing him turn redder.
Hyunjin and Felix came out shouting, talking animatedly. Minho put out the cigarette and threw it away before they could see it.
"Ji, you're still here?"
Asked Hyunjin when he saw him.
"It's raining"
He stated the obvious.
Felix opened his yellow umbrella and linked their arms.
"I don't have a spare one but there's plenty space for you too, have you eaten yet? You should join us! "
Jisung didn't even have the time to refuse, that the grey-haired boy was already dragging him with them. It was easy to get sucked in his excitement anyway, and slowly Jisung got hyper as well, his true personality coming out now that he felt more comfortable around the group.
The four soon found themselves sitting at a table, eating at that place the boy had mentioned previously. On the way there Felix and Jisung jumped in some puddles they encountered, playing like little kids, so now they were panting and couldn’t stop laughing. They only shut up when the food arrived and Minho unceremoniously told them to eat instead of bothering the other costumers with their noises.
"Food with a discount always tastes better"
Said Jisung between bites.
"A student discount though"
Hyunjin added, looking contentious at Felix.
"How was I supposed to know the promotion was so short? We're eating good ramen at a low price so you shouldn't be complaining"
Minho sighed at their bickering.
"Hyunjin shut up and eat, the faster you do that, the faster you can go to your girlfriend and leave us alone"
The pink-haired boy looked at him offended but obeyed anyway.
Felix turned to him.
"So, what do you study Jisung?"
He took a sip of his soda and cleared his voice before answering.
"Uh, I'm a music major"
Lix smiled wide., enhancing the freckles that adorned his cheeks.
"Wow, you must be good to pursue it professionally, what do you play?"
Jisung felt a little shy again, being the center of attention at the table.
"A bit of guitar and piano, but mainly I write and produce songs"
"That's so cool!"
Jisung laughed at his genuine reaction.
"Are you all dance majors?"
Minho shook his head.
"I study biology, dance is more of an hobby"
Hyunjin scoffed.
"You say that, but you spend just as much time as us practicing"
"Yeah, well someone needs to keep you two in check"
He said as he fondly pinched the fellow dancers' cheeks.
"You're really good though"
The compliment slipped past Jisung’s lips before he could stop it, but he tried to make it seem intentional by looking directly at Minho.
"You all are"
He turned to the other two.
Felix laughed.
"Why has Hyunjin never introduced you before?"
"Actually I've tried various times, but Jisung always managed to get out of it”
Hyunjin chimed in, feeling unfairly called out.
Jisung looked down, sure that his face was getting red.
"You're making me look bad! I'm just not the going out type, I don't like clubs or things like that"
"Pity"
Said Minho, making him look up confused. This guy didn’t make any sense. Was he being sarcastic?
Felix nodded in excitement.
"We should definitely change that, next time we go out we'll drag you too"
Hyunjin laughed.
"If you two manage to do that I'll be eternally grateful to you"
Jisung groaned.
"I'm not that bad, I hang out too sometimes"
"Yeah, to work on music with your friends from university, that doesn't count! ”
Ji just sighed and silently accepted defeat, he knew his friend wasn't entirely wrong. He never understood what people found in mixing themselves with hundreds of strangers, all squeezed in tight rooms elbowing each other constantly. Crowds made him anxious and they smelled terrible too, so he just spared himself the torture.
Hyunjin looked at his phone and got up.
"Well, I gotta go, please treat our dear Sungie well, byee"
Jisung glared at him for using the nickname to embarrass him and didn't bid him goodbye.
Jin smiled and waved to them as he got out.
"I wasn't joking you know, you’re fun. We go out to eat after practice at least once a week, you should come next time too"
Felix said as he started to collect his stuff.
Jisung shrugged and didn’t answer.
"Why not?"
Asked Minho.
The blonde turned to look at him. There was a joking glint in his eyes but he definitely didn't seem like he was making fun of him, which Jisung was afraid of after he noticed he barely spoke all night.
"Sure, why not"
Assured Jisung, still looking at him.
Minho squinted his eyes and raised a hand to his face.
"You know you have some sauce on your chin?"
Jisung frantically picked up his napkin and rubbed his skin. Realizing only after a while that there was nothing there.
Minho giggled, but this time Felix and Jisung laughed as well and it all felt extremely natural for them.
It was something different from the usual, but maybe he could get used to it.